Tuesday, September 27, 2011

i snuck into her room just before i went to bed and took this picture. luckily the flash didn't disturb her. a few random facts about "after dark." 1. she tucked herself in. she gets tucked in by one of us when we put her down but she rarely stays under the covers. we hear her moving around having little parties with her stuffed animals. 2. she only uses the binky when she sleeps. we're planning on completely getting rid of it around 18 months (fingers crossed). 3. 10 times out 10 she will either be sitting up, standing up, or with her head pointed in the opposite direction we laid her come morning. remember those parties i mentioned? and last but not least, 4. she prefers lots of stuffed company. in addition to pooh, tigger, and kitty you can see in the picture, there is also a ballerina bunny, a panda, and a ladybug pillow pet. in the morning she likes to give all of them morning hugs before she gets out of the crib... she's such a sweetheart!

i guess sunflares in pictures used to mean the photographer's skills were lacking. i'm glad that now they are appreciated as artistic additions to a photo. if you're interested in learning how to create them (without photoshop!) check out this link. in addition to using the recommended camera settings, i got an added special touch from my 8-point star lens filter.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

it's that time of year again! fall television premieres means overloading the dvr with tried and true favorites as well as some new shows i intend to check out. there are so many new shows debuting this month. here's the lineup (new shows are italicized) so far. this will definitely change as i check out some of the new shows and determine whether or not they're worth keeping...

man, that seems like a lot of shows. if you ask justin, it is. tuesday night is the only full night so he can't watch tv unless it's one of the shows that's recording. i don't think that's too much to ask!what new show(s) are you most looking forward to catching this season?

Monday, September 19, 2011

ok, i intended to take an awesome beach sunset picture since i live by the beach but of course the best laid plans FAILED! it's been ridiculously overcast for about a week so i am kind of cheating. i took this picture on the night we left colorado. technically it is not cheating because it was taken after the previous photo in this challenge, and before the next one will be taken. i love making my own rules...

Thursday, September 15, 2011

i saw this tutorial for a unique infinity scarf that combines crochet yarn with fabric. allyson decided to create this tutorial after seeing a similar scarf at urban outfitters. i see a lot of fun possibilities with this!

in case you didn't notice, i'm a little behind on my photo challenge. traveling always throws me off when it comes to stuff like this! anyhow, i promise that i'll be back to it very very soon. with summer rapidly coming to a close, i'm finding the day disappearing before i realize it. this is infinitely unhelpful when the next challenge topic is sunset. nevertheless, i am determined to make it happen!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

my apologies for the prolonged absence. i was gone all last week on an end of summer family road trip to my alma mater, the us air force academy. we left on the labor day holiday and returned just this past sunday. it was a fun and exciting whirlwind of an adventure and even though i feel like didn't take nearly enough photos, i still have a few to share.

on the way to colorado springs, we stopped for overnights at two national parks. zion national park and arches national park are both in utah. the views are amazing! we enjoyed a few easy hikes as well as some sunsets and sunrises. pandi wanted to blaze her own trails but we weren't quite ready for that. maybe next time...

beautiful landscape everywhere you turn!

i love the sunbeams spraying from the clouds...

this little hiker kept trying to take off

elephants on parade

i adore this one

and this one

emerald pool hike @ zion national park

it's like a fantasy world

had to keep the little escape artist close so she wouldn't disappear down the cliff

colorado was as beautiful as i remembered. i can't believe i graduated 10 years ago! and it's been 8 years since i've been to colorado springs! we had gorgeous weather the entire week. in addition to seeing old friends and classmates, i was excited to see my sponsor family. the barads provided me a home away from home for the 5 years i spent in colorado. of their 5 kids, 2 are in college, 2 are in high school, and the youngest (who was born one thanksgiving day i spent watching the older kids as they took turns visiting the hospital) is a little genius in his last year of middle school. man i feel old!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

i believe that MOST books that are adapted for movies or television are better as the book. for this reason, i prefer reading the book prior to seeing the movie. for some people this ruins the movie. however, i have to agree with a friend of mine that argued that if the movie isn't good, there's no motivation to read the book. i've seen this title on the bestsellers list for awhile now but didn't know much about it. recently i caught a preview for the movie. it looked really good! so good, that i searched out the read and finished it in 2 days. i guess i can still manage some pleasure reading now and then! i'm hoping to watch the movie soon and give a comparison but for now i'll just talk about the book.

it made me cry. Kathryn Stockett took an extremely sensitive issue and crafted a touching story full of believable characters. there's a lot of controversy surrounding both the book and movie. some people are angry that a white woman has attempted to "speak for blacks" and that the story's heroine is a "privileged white girl" while others are pleased with the depiction of black domestic workers in the south during the civil rights movement. what i took from the story is that we are all people, just trying to figure this life out.

i cannot imagine the level of hurt, disgust and frustration these women must have felt. but i can imagine the pride, sense of accomplishment, and relief they may have felt after telling their story. i look around and am thankful that some of the things people believed and deemed illegal are no longer issues. i am a woman that can vote. i make the same amount of money as my male counterpart for doing the same job. i am in an interracial marriage. and the list goes on. stories like these are testaments of how far we've come, yet they also serve as reminders of how far we still have to go...

when justin was a teenager, he went to malawi, africa on a mission. he is not an overly sentimental collector like me so i'm pretty impressed with the fact that a male teenager thought enough save these awesome animal carvings that now adorn our living room. i love the way they look over the room from their perch...